Abstract
The limbic system, composed of the amygdala, cingulate cortex etc., plays pivotal roles in emotion and cognition. The ensemble neuronal activities, i.e., network oscillations participate in these processing. Here we introduce two forms of network oscillation observed in in vitro slice preparations. One is a slow oscillatory burst of inhibitory synaptic transmission in the basolateral amygdala. This activity is expected to be involved in the memory consolidation during sleep. We are observing effects of sleep deprivation from the animals on the oscillatory rhythm. The other is a kainic acid-induced network oscillation in the anterior cingulate cortex, composed of several frequency bands. The aminergic neuromodulators (dopamine, noradrenaline, acetylcholine, etc.) known to control cognition and emotion had modulatory actions on the oscillation depending on the frequency ranges. We hope to discuss on the possible methodological approaches to find out the rhythm generating mechanisms hidden in the neural architecture, and also hope to obtain insights to correlate the temporal structure in the neural signal to the behavioral states.
